Ongoing ear infections - already has grommits, and 3 course of a/b's

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone else has had experiences with this. DS got 1 set of grommits when he was 3.5, they lasted 1 year before the both fell out. Before any grommits he was at 50% hearing loss. The test after they came out showed 5% hearing loss in left ear. We decided the put the grommits back in that one, as he is on the autism spectrum, and also has an auditoary processing disorder and low speech, so at least I could rul out physical hearing if the grommit was in. So he has had this 1 grommit in for 1 weeks short of 2 years.

A few weeks ago I noticed blood & pus coming out of that ear (the grommit allows everything to drain), but we went to the doctor to see if the non-grommited ear was also infected. He said it was only a tiny bit, gave us a script but didn't really want us to use it as DS didn't have a fever, and he said the studies show it doesn't show faster clear up times in absence of fever or pain. DS had been acting the worst I've ever seen the week leading up to this, and inthe past despite countless ear infections he never got fevers, or said it hurt, as he has a funny pain tolelrance from the ASD, but his behaviour would go appalling. Anyway, I went with my gut and gave him the a/b's. He finished that course, but his ear was still leaking gunk so I gave him the repeat. Finished that one, and still leaking yucky smelling gunk (not blood or bad pus this time). So we went back to be assessed and our regular GP gave us stronger ones.

Anyway, last week he wanted me to clean them out (He has been making me do that as the gunk is bothering him, so I figure it's better for me to do gently with a cotton bud then him sticking his fingers in there), and this really gross dark brown, almost black stuff came out. So I called his ENT and got an appointment for Wed. Went to get the referral from the Gp on Sunday, and she took a swab of the nasty ear, and it was still the same colour stuff,

Anyway, so we have had 3 courses of a/b's, including 1 day of throwing up as I assume it has upset his stomach (will go get him some probiotics I think), and am seeing the ENT tomorrow. Has anyone been through this? What can I expect, or suggest if I'm going to get fobbed off,. It is affecting his behaviour, and parent-teacher last night they said for the first time ever then have noticed him getting physical at school, and I think it might be all stemming from his ears, so say nothing of the fact that he isn't happy or comfortable. I like to be informed before I turn up. I don't know if they will take the grommit out, and then whether it will go back in, so I thought I would post this to ask for experiences.

Thanks!

Have they said anything about his adenoids? The ENT we are using for DS has a website and on there, it suggests if the grommets don't work first time around, they may remove the adenoids. The ENT is dr wabnitz, maybe have a look at his site. Other than that, I can't help I'm afraid.

My son is on his fourth set of grommets and still gets infections/oozing every two months or so. We have had the swabs tested and the most recent one is showing a candidia infection. Our ENT always prescribes ear drops with the antibiotics or ear drops alone. The ear drops are Hyproxin HC and the antibiotics are always Augmentin Duo and for 10 days. My son only shows behavioral symptoms also, often being quick to anger and reverting to bed-wetting also. I would think it is unlikely they would take the grommet out. Imagine the pain he would be in if all that gunk had no way out! I hope you get a good result. Let us know how you go.

Thanks for the replies.

So we saw the surgeon today, he said that the infection had got in around the grommets, and the swab showed that it should have responded to the antibiotics that we were given, but that the bacteria creates a film that makes it very hard to clear up, and the tissue around the grommets was being damaged, which could possibly affect his hearing. So it has to come out, and then they will put a patch over it to try and get the hole to heal. There is a 30% chance that it won't heal, and then he will need further surgery when he is bigger to close the hole. Hoping this won't be necessary. Once it is out, we will have another hearing test in 3 months to see if everything is ok, and if so we can hopefully avoid needing to put them back in, especially as the past 2 years we have basically been ear infection free, which we are hoping is a sign that the ear drums have grown larger and won't get infected so easily. They are also going to take out his adenoids to try and help prevent infections.


He said it is super important they stay as dry as possible for the next week or so, so we have to cancel swimming lessons and holidays are coming up anyway, so when the surgeon said when do you want to do the surgery and I said ASAP, he said how about tomorrow morning - so 6.45am tomorrow we are heading off. Going to be a busy few days I think.

Glad it's getting sorted. Great you could get in so quickly!